Creators of Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora: Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Marinieves Alba, and Yvette Modestin have graciously answered our call for an intimate reading and will be sharing their favorite excerpts and signing books!

Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora

"My housewife mother turned into a raging warrior woman when the principal of my elementary school questioned whether her daughter and the children of my public school had the intelligence to pass a citywide test," Marta Moreno Vega writes in her essay. She knew then she was loved and valued, and she learned that to be an Afro-Puerto Rican woman meant activism was her birthright.

Here is one of eleven essays and four poems included in this volume in which Latina women of African descent share their stories. The authors included are from all over Latin America Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela and they write about the African diaspora and issues such as colonialism, oppression, and disenfranchisement. Diva Moreira, a black Brazilian, writes that she experienced racism and humiliation at a very young age. The worst experience, she remembers, was when her mother's bosses told her she didn't need to go to school after the fourth grade, "because blacks don't need to study more than that."

The contributors span a range of professions, from artists to grass-roots activists, scholars and elected officials. Each is deeply engaged in her community, and they all use their positions to advocate for justice, racial equality and cultural equity. In their introduction, the editors write that these stories provide insight into the conditions that have led Afro-Latinas to challenge systems of inequality, including the machismo that is still prominent in Spanish-speaking cultures.

A fascinating look at the legacy of more than 400 years of African enslavement in the Americas, this collection of personal stories is a must-read for anyone interested in the African diaspora and issues of inequality and racism.

Meets the Authors:

Dr. Marta Moreno-Vega established the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) in 1976, inspired by a vision to create an international organization to promote and link communities of African descent. She guided the capital campaign for the renovation of the landmark firehouse at 120 East 125th Street, the Center’s new home. Dr. Moreno Vega has been an advocate for cultural equity cultural studies and education. As the second director of El Museo del Barrio, one of the founders of the Association of Hispanic Arts, Network of Centers of Color and the Roundtable of Institutions of Color. Dr. Moreno Vega has contributed to assuring that the contributions of African and African descendants are integral to the lives of civil society in the Americas. She has conducted research in Yoruba belief systems in the African Diaspora and has organized international conferences uniting scholars and leading traditional experts focused on expanding the knowledge and importance of sacred African Diaspora traditions.

Moreno Vega is a co-founder of the Global Afro-Latino and Caribbean Initiative (GALCI), a former program of Hunter College/Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. She is chief editor of Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora (Arte Publico Press) and author of The Altar of My Soul (One World/Ballantine, 2001). She is director and co-producer of the documentary When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio and has written a personal memoir by the same name (Three Rivers Press, 2003, Black Classic Press, 2018). Dr. Vega is also co-editor of Voices from the Battlefront Achieving Cultural Equity.

Marinievies Alba is a Puerto Rican/Panamanian activist, producer and writer, who has worked in the arts, and youth and community development throughout the United States and Latin America for over 15 years. Marinieves has dedicated her life to exploring and nurturing the intersections between the arts and social justice, and issues of social and cultural rights and equity for Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and other people of color in the United States, with a special attention to nurturing solidarity, inter-cultural understanding and collaboration between Afro-Latinos and other peoples of the African diaspora. Marinieves holds degrees from Wesleyan University and New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and is a graduate of the NALAC Arts Leadership Institute and the Third World Newsreel. She co-edited Women Warriors of the Afro-Latina Diaspora (Arte Público Press, 2012) a collection featuring essays and poems in which Latina women of African descent share their stories. Marinieves is presently a citizen journalist/correspondent for World Pulse/Pulsewire, a women’s communication network dedicated to connecting women and social change work globally. She is a Community School Director in Washington Heights, New York.

Yvette Modestin is a writer, poet and activist who focuses on shedding light on the Afro descendent experience in Latin America. She was born and raised in Colon, Panama, and is the founder and executive director of Encuentro Diaspora Afro in Boston, MA. She was named in the 30 Most Influential Afro Latinas of the world. She is the diaspora coordinator of the Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diaspora a national and international network of Afrolatinamerican women. She sits as the representative of this network at the UN office for Women and the African Union. Modestin has been profiled by TheBoston Globe as “The Uniter” for her work in bringing the Latin American and African American communities together. She received the Fundacion Bayano 2013 award for Afro descendent leadership in her home country of Panama, and is one of the editors and writers to the book, “Women Warriors of the Afro Latina Diaspora.” The book was named in the top five Latino books in the country for 2013. She is one of the featured poets in the book, “Rapsodia Antillana,” was a contributor to “The Afro Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the US” and is one of the featured poet in the, “Antologia de Poesia Colonense.” She is also a contributor in the book, “The Psychological Health of Women of Color.” She was the 2009 recipient of the Drylongso Award by Community Change Inc. for her extraordinary anti- racism work. Modestin writes a blog about the events and experiences in the community called Reflections. As an artist, a licensed mental health clinician and wellness facilitator, Modestin speaks to the acknowledgement of the historical pain of people of African descent and the awareness of the connection that would lead to the healing of our communities. @soulfulafro